Descripciones mejoradas de Syndetics:

"How have innovations in architecture and engineering come about? Who tested new approaches and when were important discoveries and experiments accepted? This book illuminates the history and development of building, in all its constructive, technical and cultural aspects, from the Industrial Revolution to the present and into the future. One hundred case scenarios articulate how new ideas, their context and ideology, became integral parts of the build environment. It also discusses which technical and creative mediums the pioneers and protagonists of the various trends and schools of thought used to articulate their ideas. The insightful texts and numerous images make this volume an essential handbook of architectural and structural history for students and professionals."--BOOK JACKET.

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Library Journal Review

Pfammatter (building technology, Swiss Federal Inst. of Technology, Zurich) follows up his insightful The Making of the Modern Architect and Engineer with a peerless historical survey of modern architectural design and engineering. Distilled from a careerlong series of lectures, Pfammatter's sprawling, erudite treatise incorporates some 100 case studies, generously supplemented by high-quality photos, illustrations, and technical drawings. The case studies are grouped into six thematic chapters analyzing key building advances of the past 200 years, such as increasingly sophisticated uses of concrete and the evolution of the glass curtain wall from a static facade to an "intelligent envelope." Pfammatter's multidisciplinary approach offers American students of architecture and engineering a refreshingly international (tending toward Eurocentric) perspective on the evolution of their respective fields. One hopes that future editions will improve on the sometimes unidiomatic, pedantic English translation and will correct the obvious editorial errors, e.g., missing paragraphs and captions. Overall, this is highly recommended as a textbook and a reference resource for professional and academic collections.--David Soltesz, Cuyahoga Cty. P.L., Parma, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

"The growing possibilities offered by industrial production form a permanent motor of development that repeatedly influences the world of building." Such is the theme of Building the Future by Pfammatter (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology). This well-written, well-researched, and beautifully presented book highlights epic design opportunities since 1775 that led to significant changes in architecture through the use of new materials technology. Organized into six chapters, it covers major new materials such as glass and concrete, along with structural space frame design and wall construction, ranging from skeletal to fabric skins. Each chapter begins with a historical overview with subheadings that become subchapters on specific topics. Three to five case studies (a hundred in all) follow each subchapter, showing the application of the material or structural concept. For example, the chapter on concrete has a case study on the mushroom column with the Johnson Wax Administration Building as one example. The book features detailed and informative historic illustrations, plus black-and-white and color photographs. It ends appropriately with Ove Arup's 1970 speech on modern ethics of design and building. Extensive notes, bibliography, index. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. L. B. Sickels Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation